Easter

Happy Easter!!



In the spirit of Easter and Passover, I decided to share a recipe for a nice lamb dinner.



First the lamb. I prefer to use New Zealand lamb as opposed to Colorado lamb because it tends to have a less gamy taste. This is especially helpful if you have someone who has never had lamb before.


Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
4 lamb shanks
2c flour
2tbs kosher salt
1tbs fresh cracked pepper
1tbs granulated garlic
1/4 c olive oil
1 large carrot (rough chop)
3 stalks celery (rough chop)
1 large yellow onion (rough chop)
2c red wine
2c beef stock
4 large sprig of fresh Rosemary. (or 3 tbs dried)

1 Place a metal baking dish (preferably a braising pan) on the stove and turn on to med high heat. Add olive oil. In a mixing bowl, mix together your flour, salt, pepper, and garlic.
2. Coat lamb shanks in flour and carefully place them in the hot oil. turn them when they start to brown. Make sure you brown them on all four sides as best you can.
3. when completely brown on all sides remove from pan and place on a plate. In the same pan add you carrot, celery and onion and saute until slightly brown. Degalze with the red wine. Add beef stock and rosemary. remove from heat. Place lamb shanks on top of the vegetables and cover tightly with foil. Place in oven for 3 and a half hours. DO NOT uncover until time is up.
4. Pull from pan and let rest for 15 minutes. While lamb is resting place the pan back on the stove on high heat and reduce the liquid by about half. This will give you a great sauce to go on top of your shanks.

While the lamb is cooking you can prepare a simple starch and veg.
Starch.
2c wild rice blend(1/4 wild rice & 3/4 brown rice. i don't like using only wild rice for a starch)
4c water
juice and zest from 1 orange
1/4 c dried cranberries(craisins)
1/4 c toasted almonds

In a pot, add water, zest and juice. Bring to a boil and add rice. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until rice is tender and absorbed all of the water. The mix in craisins and almonds.

For the Veg.

Cut broccoli and cauliflower into small florets. Blanche in hot water for 45 seconds and drain.
right before you dish up dinner. place the broccoli and cauliflower in a pan, drizzle with olive oil and Parmesan cheese and bake at 350F until cheese is melted and a little brown.

If you have any questions as to how to prepare any of this, post me a comment and I will be happy to help.

You maybe asking yourself how does this relate to workout food? Glad you asked. Lamb is an excellent source of protein with all 8 essential amino acids in the proper ratio. Lamb is a good source of Zinc which is essential for healthy immune function. Zinc also helps stabilize blood sugar levels and the body's metabolic rate. Lamb is a good source of vitamin B12 which supports the formation of new red blood cells and is necessary for the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Lamb is a good source of vitamin B3 which helps with healthy skin and the gastro-intestinal track. Lamb contains very little marbling (fat throughout the meat) compared to other meats. Finally, lamb contains less saturated fat than other meat products. Only about 36% of lamb fat is saturated. The rest is mono or polyunsaturated. If you have never had lamb you may have found you new favorite meat. Based on health benefits alone how could you not like it.


So with that all said, have a very Happy and Healthy Easter!!!

Chef Matt